The Way of Z: Practical Programming with Formal Methods

For some reason, there are about a million books on the market describing the Z specification notation. It isn't that widely used or popular a notation (although it should be); it just seems to generate books. Among all of the Z books, this one stands out as unique. Written by a professional in radiology who is not primarily a mathematician or software engineer, The Way of Z (prounounced as the British "zed", hence the title pun) describes how to write formal specifications in Z for a reader that may not know any significant amount of formal logic or advanced mathematics. This is a huge challenge, and Jacky meets it admirably. I have taught a dozen college classes using this text, usually to industry software engineers with rusty math skills. This book really does help them "get it". It is especially good at communicating why formal specifications are so important, and how to construct them in such a way that they are useful without extraordinary effort. If you're interested in formal specifications, and especially if you're interested in Z, start here.

Probably the most readable introduction to the Z formal method that I have seen. Jacky does a great job of showing the reader why Z might be useful, gently introducing the concepts, and showing how they can be translated into real code. While this book is not a comprehensive Z reference, it is certainly a wonderful introduction that will give the reader most of the tools they might need (and a great background for learning any of Z's more obscure corners).

This book is the first book I've read on Z or formal methods. It's very easy to read and understand, and replete with Z examples. I recommend it to anyone who's interested in learning Z.

The thing I found most helpful about this book is that the author presents Z in comparison to things that we are already (probably) familiar with: data flow diagrams, state charts, etc. He shows the difference between Z and these things, and walks you through a comparison of one system using all 4 different methods.

There are many good books on how to construct, verify, and establish actual program code using Z. I have read bits and pieces of many in an attempt to gain a general understanding of the whole development process and a breadth of approaches taken to it. I cannot say that I have come accross a book even approaching The Way of Z in both clarity and completeness. Dr. Jacky has left nothing out of this text and it reads extremely smoothly (without the sacrifice of complexity). I recommend it to any Formal Methods student, programmer and anyone interested in the formal specification, verification, and implementation process.